


are you made of copper and tellurium?

by teeandrainbows



Series: JatP Bingo [1]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bad chemistry puns, Everyone Is Alive, Fluff, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 02:27:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29270997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teeandrainbows/pseuds/teeandrainbows
Summary: Alex sucks at Chemistry.  His new lab partner, Willie, is a Chemistry genius.  He's also extremely cute and Alex can't stop thinking about him.
Relationships: Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms)
Series: JatP Bingo [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2190123
Comments: 15
Kudos: 195
Collections: Julie and the Phantoms Bingo Challenge





	are you made of copper and tellurium?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SokkaWithHisHairDown](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SokkaWithHisHairDown/gifts).



> Inspired by [a post on tumblr by willex-n-waffles!](https://willex-n-waffles.tumblr.com/post/642041315210690560/willex-lab-partners-au)
> 
> Check out my [tumblr](https://reggieshamster.tumblr.com/)!
> 
> Fulfills a square on my JatP bingo card - Willex!

Alex liked it when things made sense. Like History class. History made sense. Something either happened, or it didn’t, and even when the question of “why” was brought into it, the answer was usually clear cut and obvious. When things made sense, it made it easier for Alex to wrap his mind around whatever he was working on and avoid the panic that came when he didn’t know what to do.

Chemistry, on the other hand, didn’t make sense at all. There were so many variables, and Alex was constantly worried he wasn’t doing it right, that one wrong shake of a beaker, one wrong added chemical would have everything blow up in his face.

He really didn’t like Chemistry, not one bit, and it showed in his grades. It was the one class he wasn’t doing well in, and that only made him more anxious.

Reggie loved Chemistry. His mind worked a mile a minute, figuring out the problems and coming up with solutions. It was exhausting, watching Reggie work on his homework, and Alex was almost glad he was in a different class section so he didn’t have to deal with his own incompetence in the subject while watching Reggie excel. Bobby, in his quiet, studious nature, was also good at Chemistry, while Luke was passable as long as he could copy Reggie’s homework and wasn’t oogling Julie Molina during labs.

The worst part of the class, though, was his lab partner. Willie Covington was new to the school that year. No one seemed to know much about him except that he liked to skateboard, played lacrosse, and was freakishly good at Chemistry. And no one knew that last part better than Alex.

He had been sitting at the counter in the lab, wondering who was going to be assigned his new lab partner after his old partner moved to a new city. Bobby was already working with his sister, Carrie, despite Alex’s best efforts to get his friend to be his partner.

“Good morning, everyone,” Mrs Harrison had said, smiling warmly at them. “We have a new student in class today,” she added, as the door opened and a boy walked in, an easy smile on his face. From the moment Alex had laid eyes on him, his stomach had done flips and his mouth had gone dry. Warning bells went off in his brain.  _ Oh no _ , he had thought,  _ he’s gorgeous _ .

“Hey, everyone,” the boy said, waving. “I’m Willie.”

Willie. Willie. Williewilliewillie. Alex repeated the name over and over in his thoughts, trying to make things make sense. Willie’s hair was long, pulled back in a single braid down his back, and he was wearing a tie-dyed shirt and shorts. And he was gorgeous.

He missed what Mrs Harrison said next, but then she pointed in Alex’s general direction. The next thing he knew, Willie was standing next to him. “Hey,” he said, his grin now directed at Alex, making the alarm bells ring louder. “So you’re my lab partner, hey?”

Alex stammered, glancing first at Mrs Harrison, then back at Willie. “I… uh, yeah. I guess. Er. Yeah. I’m, uh. I’m Alex.”

“Right on,” Willie said, sitting next to him. He was close. Too close. Alex glanced sideways, catching Bobby’s eye while Carrie was busy checking her nails, and to his credit his friend wasn’t laughing at him.

“You’ll have to help me out a bit today,” the new kid added, and Alex looked back at him, his throat still dry. “I don’t know my way around the room, yet, and I don’t know where you guys are at.”

Alex nodded. “Right,” he said. At least, that was what he had wanted to say. Instead, it came out as a garble. Embarrassed, he cleared his throat and tried again. “Yeah, okay. I, uh, I gotta warn you, though, Chem’s not my best subject.”

“Oh, I’m sure you’re great at Chemistry,” Willie said, wiggling his eyebrows at him.

Alex was sure his brain had ceased to function at that point. He had stayed quiet during the lab, pointing out where things were in the cupboards for Willie. It quickly became apparent that Willie was amazing at Chemistry, and knew exactly what he was doing. They were the first ones finished their lab, through no contribution of Alex’s, and Willie spent the remainder of the class asking Alex questions about Los Feliz High School. Alex’s role was to try to remember to speak when Willie said something, and to try to make it sound intelligent enough to prove he wasn’t a total drag. Thankfully, Willie didn’t seem to notice anything out of the ordinary, or at least was too polite to say anything.

“Is it true you guys have a kickass lacrosse team?” he asked.

“Erm, yeah,” Alex replied, playing with the band around his wrist. “They’re pretty good, I guess.”

“Wicked,” Willie said, beaming at him and making Alex want to melt into the floor. “I played lacrosse back at my old school. I might want to try and get on the team here.”

Alex nodded, glancing at the clock. It was almost the end of the period, and thankfully, that meant freedom for him.

That had been nearly a month ago.

Alex had fallen into the rhythm of working with Willie for the most part, and was better at hiding his awkwardness around the new kid. Bobby had noticed almost immediately, and had told Reggie and Luke, much to Alex’s chagrin, so he was teased relentlessly.

“So, when’s the wedding?” Luke asked him one night while they were all playing video games at Bobby’s house.

“W-what?” Alex stammered, his voice raising in pitch. “What wedding?”

“Yours and Willie’s, of course!” Reggie chimed in, poking Alex in the side.

“We have a betting pool on how long before you tell him you have a crush on him,” Luke continued, smirking. “I’m on a year.”

“I’m on eight months,” Reggie added.

Alex groaned, glancing at Bobby, who had been quiet up until that moment.

“Nine months,” Bobby said, nudging Alex.

“I hate all of you,” Alex moaned, leaning back. His character on the screen lost all of his health and died, and he set the controller down on his lap.

The following morning, Alex slipped into class just after the bell rang. Willie was already there, his hair in two braids, and he nodded eagerly at Alex the moment he saw him.

“Ready for today’s lab?” Willie asked when Alex sat next to him.

“I guess so,” Alex replied, glancing up at the instructions already on the board. Just his luck. He didn’t know how to start.

Thankfully, Willie was just as much of a chemisty whiz as always. When Mrs Harrison told them they could begin, Willie immediately got to work, his hands almost a blur as he started mixing the compound.

“Hey, shouldn’t you… slow down?” Alex asked, cringing as Willie seemingly haphazardly poured liquid from a vial into the beaker set above their bunsen burner.

“I know what I’m doing,” Willie replied, a grin on his face as he continued working.

Alex couldnt help it. He could feel his anxiety levels rising as he watched Willie as good as throwing chemicals together. All he could think was  _ please don’t let it explode, please, pleasedontletitexplode _ .

Twenty minutes later, it hadn’t exploded and Willie was cheerfully demonstrating what they (he) had done to a pleased Mrs Harrison.

“See?” Willie asked once the teacher moved on to another pair. “You should relax a bit more.”

“I’ve always been a bit anxious,” Alex offered after clearing his throat. “And Chemistry doesn’t really make much sense to me, and I don’t do well with things I don’t understand.”

Willie peered at him. “I’ll just have to help you find the sense in Chem,” he replied, playing with the end of one of his braids. “We can start with the periodic table. You know, if I had to guess… if you were an element, you’d be francium.”

“O-kay, then?” Alex voiced, trying to remember anything he knew about francium. It wasn’t much, honestly. He wasn’t even sure if he knew which number it was.

“Trust me, it’s a compliment,” Willie said, leaning forward, into Alex’s space. Alex instinctively pulled back and Willie immediately backed off, turning back to the bunsen burner and checking it was fully off.

The bell rang and Alex murmured a farewell to Willie before heading to his next class, one he shared with all three of his friends. On any normal day, he would have enjoyed it, but the moment Luke and Reggie arrived, they immediately asked Bobby about Alex and Willie during the lab.

“Can you guys stop it?” Alex asked, huffing. “He’s just my lab partner. Nothing else.” A thought occurred to him. “Reggie, what do you know about francium? What’s it known for?”

Reggie shrugged. “It’s the most reactive element.”

“Meaning…”

“It’s super attractive.”

Alex felt the blood rush to his face and he turned away, grateful when their Math teacher started the lesson.

It dawned on him as the teacher droned on about polynomials and factoring.

Willie had said he was like the most attractive element.

Willie thought he was attractive.

Or did he? Was he just kidding? There was no way to be sure. From what he knew of Willie, he was very open and candid. He said things that made Alex’s stomach flip, and didn’t even skip a beat.

Alex groaned inwardly, trying not to dwell on it. He failed. He missed most of the lesson, and when it came time to work, Alex peered over at Bobby’s paper, trying to make sense of it all.

What on earth was he going to do the next time he saw Willie?

Alex couldn’t stop thinking about it. Not when he went home, locking himself in his room almost immediately so his parents couldn’t look at him with that look of disappointment they always seemed to wear ever since he came out to them. Not when he sat behind his electric drumkit, slipping on his headphones and taking out all of his frustration and confusion on the kit. And certainly not when he finally laid down in his bed, staring up at the ceiling, trying not to think about the way Willie smiled at him and failing miserably.

As it turned out, he shouldn’t have worried much about it at all. Willie wasn’t at school the next day, nor the day after that. Mrs Harrison had Alex work with Bobby and Carrie, and Alex spent most of the class staring longingly over at the spot where he and Willie usually worked.

“What’s got your panties in a twist?” Carrie asked, sounding bored as she handed a vial to Bobby who was doing most of the work for them.

“None of your business,” Alex retorted, turning back and trying to focus on what they were doing. It didn’t help that he barely understood any of it.

After the weekend, he dragged his feet into the lab, ready to go endure another period of his most hated subject.

“Hey there, Francium!”

Alex blinked. There Willie was, sitting at their spot, beaming at him and waving.

“W-willie?” He crossed the lab, sitting on the stool beside him. “You’re back?”

“Yeah,” Willie said, giving a nervous chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck. His hair was back in one long braid, down the middle of his back, and Alex couldn’t help but stare, taking it all in. “Sorry about that. I went home, and my dad was all, ‘Willie, we need to go check the club in Vegas’, and I was like, ‘can’t I stay here?’ And he was like, ‘no, we’re both going.’ So I had to go with him, and I didn’t get a chance to let you know or anything.” It was mesmerizing, watching Willie’s hands move as he told the story, listening to him make his voice deeper to imitate his dad.

Alex nodded slowly, swallowing a lump in his throat. “I didn’t know your dad had a club in Vegas,” he said. Smooth, Alex. Such an intelligent comment.

“He owns a couple of places,” WIllie explained, shrugging. “He has people running them, but I guess he really needed to check up on it, and he didn’t want to leave me here alone. Did I miss much in class?”

“Er… we, er…” He didn’t know how to explain it, so instead Alex reached into his binder and pulled out the handouts from the last couple of classes. Willie scanned them over, humming and hawing and nodding thoughtfully.

“Aw, man, I would have loved to do this one,” he said, pointing at the lab from Friday.

Alex shrugged, trying to remember the results from that one. “It was alright.”

“I’ll look over it when we finish today’s lab,” Willie said, meeting Alex’s gaze. They both looked away, just as Mrs Harrison put up the instructions for the day and started talking.

As usual, Willie threw himself into the work, his hands flying as he mixed chemicals and made calculations. As usual, Alex sat back and handed Willie the things he asked for while trying to avoid staring at the other boy too much.

The difference came about ten minutes in, when Willie suddenly paused what he was doing. It was so abrupt that it threw Alex off and he blinked.

“Everything okay?” he asked, eyeing the beaker suspiciously. Please don’t explode, he thought. Please, please, please.

“You don’t know what I’m doing, do you?” Willie asked. If anything, that threw Alex off even more.

“I, er…”

“You should have said something weeks ago,” the other boy added, peering at him.

Alex inwardly cringed. This was it. Willie was upset about doing all the work. Willie was going to ask for a different lab partner and Alex was going to end up stuck with Carrie while Willie and Bobby worked together the rest of the semester.

“I’m sorry,” Alex said, sighing. “I told you, though, I suck at Chem. I’m sorry you have to do all the work, though.”

Willie let out a puff of air. “Dude, I’m not upset about that! I just wish I had known how confused you were. I could have been, like, explaining things to you instead of just flying through it all. I haven’t done anything to actually help you at all!”

“No,” Alex cut in, embarrassed beyond belief. “I should have said something. Instead I just let you carry me through the class, and that’s wrong, and--”

“Dude. Here.” Willie showed him one of the vials, explaining carefully and in detail what it was and what would happen when he added it to the solution in the beaker. “And then we just heat it up, and presto, reaction!”

Alex nodded thoughtfully, pretending to understand, but Willie caught him and explained what had happened once more, in more detail. He carried on for the rest of the lab, spending the time to explain to Alex everything he was doing and why he was doing it. Although Mrs Harrison seemed a bit flustered that they weren’t the first pair finished for once, Alex left the class feeling like he had actually learned something.

“Hey, Francium, wait up!”

He turned, arching an eyebrow as Willie pushed through the crowd of students to catch up with him. “You know, I have a name,” he said, keeping his tone light.

“I know,” Willie replied, shifting his weight from side to side. “I just like calling you that.”

Alex chuckled, glancing down at his feet. “Alright, then.”

“Alright, then,” Willie repeated, grinning. “Anyway, I wanted to ask if you wanted to meet me in the library after school? I could, you know… explain some of the stuff we’ve been doing in Chem. We could look over the periodic table. And stuff.” He stuck his hands in the pockets of his shorts.

Alex’s eyebrows disappeared into his hairline. “Sure,” he said. Over Willie’s shoulder, he could see Luke and Reggie watching them, and the look of mirth on their faces was undeniable.

He had the sudden urge to skip Math.

“Great! So, I’ll see you then?” Willie asked. Alex nodded, and the other boy beamed. “And if you don’t want me to call you Francium, then I’ll call you Copper Tellurium.”

With that, Willie waved and disappeared into the crowd, leaving Alex standing alone in the middle of the hall until Luke and Reggie joined him.

“Shut up,” he grumbled as his friends cracked jokes all the way to class.

As it turned out, Willie had a lot of potential nicknames for Alex that involved elements as he discovered after school. First he was a compound of Barium and Beryllium, then he was made of Oxygen and Neon. With every one, Alex would just smile and nod, and Willie would chuckle and go back to teaching him the concepts they were studying.

“No, I changed my mind,” Willie said as they wrapped up and started getting ready to leave. “You’re made of Beryllium, Gold, and Titanium.”

“Okay, Willie,” Alex said, laughing. Their hands brushed as they both reached for their binders that were still on the table and Willie tugged his hand away just a bit quicker than Alex did.

“I’ll… I’ll see you tomorrow,” Willie promised, grabbing the rest of his things and leaving Alex standing alone in the library, staring at him as he walked away.

He didn’t want to ask Reggie or Bobby, so Alex spent the evening locked in his room, staring down at his handout of the periodic table, trying to figure out what Willie had been calling him.

“Cu… Te…” he mumbled to himself. It hit him like a wave and his cheeks went bright red. As he checked the rest of them, the heat in his face grew.

They were in the classroom the next day for Chem, and Alex couldn’t stop staring at the back of Willie’s head the entire class. He missed the entire lesson and had no idea what he was doing on the worksheet, but that didn’t matter. By the end of class, Alex had steeled his nerves and was ready for what he wanted to say.

He caught up with Willie as they left the room, reaching out and taking the other boy’s wrist.

“Willie, wait.”

“What’s up?” Willie asked, his eyes searching Alex’s.

He knew he had to say it now, or he’d never have the confidence to say it again. “Willie… you’re, er… you’re made of Copper and Tellurium too.”

There was a long silence during which Alex was worried he had said the wrong thing. Then Willie let out a chuckle.

“So you  _ did _ get it?” he asked, laughing. “I wasn’t sure you did.”

Alex felt his cheeks go bright red again. “I, um, yeah. I had to look it up last night. And the other ones, too.”

Willie linked his hands together in front of him, shifting his weight backwards and forwards. “Yeah, I, ah, I wasn’t really sure how else to say it without being, ya know, awkward about it.”

Alex coughed. “So you went for the chemistry puns that I probably wouldn’t understand anyway?”

“Yeah, haha… well, when I like a guy, I kinda… I get awkward, y’know?” Willie laughed nervously, staring down at the floor.

“Wait.  _ You _ were being awkward?” Alex asked, disbelief flooding into his voice. “I’ve been flustered and awkward around you since you first walked into class!” He didn’t realize what he had said at first, and when it dawned on him, he wanted to melt into the floor.

Willie was once again stunned into silence, but after a moment, he let out a bark of laughter. “Alex,” he started, reaching across and holding his hand. “Go out with me.”

Now it was Alex’s turn to be shocked into silence, Willie’s fingers warm on his wrist. “I… er… okay, yeah,” he breathed, letting out a breath.

Willie winked at him, and Alex felt his stomach turn flips. “Awesome. Because you must be made of Uranium and Iodine.” He paused, and Alex arched an eyebrow. “I can see U and I together.” He burst out laughing at his joke, and it was infectious. Alex laughed too, finding it hard to tear his eyes away from Willie’s joyful energy.

By the end of the semester, Alex looked forward to Chemistry, and for once he wasn’t scared of the exam. Reggie, Luke, and Bobby hadn’t stopped teasing him, but that was okay. Alex knew it was from a place of caring.

“Hey, Willie?” Alex asked, suddenly, lifting his head from the other’s shoulder while they were watching a movie at Willie’s house the night after the final exam. “I wanted to tell you something.”

“Hm?”

He took a moment to think about it, to try and remember what he had read on the website he had looked at. “Forget hydrogen. You’re my number one element.”

Willie laughed. “Aww, you learned a chemistry pun for me?” He slinged an arm around Alex’s shoulders. “You’re my number one too.”

When the marks came out, Alex couldn’t believe his eyes. B-. His highest ever mark in Chemistry.

Then again, he thought that night as he celebrated with Willie, he had a great tutor.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos make my day!


End file.
